“The externals shape the internals and vice versa.”
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Canterbury Cathedral recently hosted a disco-style dance party in the nave and Christians weren’t the only ones who found it disturbing. But why, exactly, is dancing in a cathedral wrong if dancing itself isn’t sinful?
The answer exposes a much deeper problem in modern Christianity: we’ve largely forgotten the distinction between the sacred and the profane.
In this video, I argue that the popular idea that “God only cares about what’s in your heart” misunderstands the relationship between our interior disposition and our external actions. Scripture repeatedly shows God using physical places, gestures, objects, clothing, music, and ritual to form his people and commanding them to distinguish what is holy from what is common.
If everything can be used for everything, nothing is really sacred.
Timestamps
0:00 A rave inside Canterbury Cathedral
1:26 But why is it actually wrong?
2:19 “God only cares about your heart”
4:27 The false separation of body and soul
5:20 Why God cares about physical worship
5:45 The Temple, Tabernacle, and sacred space
7:02 Why kneeling, clothing, and posture matter
9:01 Sacred vs. profane
10:22 St. Paul on treating worship as ordinary
11:13 Why Jesus cleansed the Temple
12:13 What profanation really means
12:50 God asks for remarkably little
13:59 Why churches shouldn’t become entertainment venues
15:00 Conclusion
